My Times are in Your Hands
Psalm 31:14-15 “But I trust in you, O Lord; I say, ‘You are my God.’ My times are in your hands…” (NIV)
Memorizing words and phrases until they become a part of how you think, what you speak, and who you are is crucial to maintaining faith through the “deserts” in our lives. Times can become difficult, sometimes without notice and seemingly overnight, and hit our lives like a punch in the stomach. As Christians, we simply must be prepared to accept whatever circumstances come into our lives, recognizing they have been filtered through God’s love, and will with our faith in the strength of the Lord create a blessing both for ourselves and others. This is never easy and certainly there is no “easy button” we can push to make it so like in the Staple’s office supply commercial. What is needed is a thoughtful, prayer based commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ, to internalize his word in our lives. Only this will be sufficient to direct our steps, even when we have lost our way or are up against seemingly impenetrable obstacles. Always remember, with our God there is absolutely nothing that is too hard for him to accomplish in our lives, nothing! (Genesis 18:13-14)
Here in our devotional text we have one of the precious “abandoned to faith” passages in the word of the living God. I can remember telling my son Brad, as he went off to Army airborne training, to focus on these words as he jumped into the night sky on a parachute mission. I pleaded as a father to my child that when you launch yourself into the blackness of night pray, “You are my God! My times are in your hands!” When suspended in space on the way to the certainty of a landing on earth, demonstrate faithfulness to your God by remembering Him and the great truth of our existence: “My times are in your hands.” God is not a far off being who is uncaring, unknowing, or unfeeling. Quite the opposite; our God is intimate, compassionate, and personal. The only relationship that works with the Lord is a personal relationship of trust that recognizes that God is for us, with us, and in us as we go through both the wonderful and treacherous moments of life. Remember these words and write them indelibly on your heart: “You are my God! My times are in your hands!”
In Psalm 31:5 we have the words: “Into your hands I commit my spirit…” If you will recall, these same words left the lips of the Savior as he died on the cross for each one of us and our ugly and wretched sins: “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he said this, Jesus breathed his last (Luke 23:46). How many times did our Lord Jesus reflect on this passage from Psalm 31, and internalize its meaning and prophecy to be used under the stress of his immediate death on a Roman cross? My friends, the example of Christ instructs us to keep our minds focused on our relationship with God, just as he did while on this earth. Be encouraged to recall whenever you grow weak: “You are MY God. MY times are in YOUR hands!”
MY PRECIOUS LORD, THANK YOU FOR NEVER LETTING ME GO, AND ALWAYS BEING THERE THROUGH THE GOOD AND BAD TIMES IN MY LIFE. PLEASE HELP ME TO REMEMBER WHEN MY FAITH EBBS WEAK THAT MY TIMES ARE IN YOUR HANDS! AMEN!
Article source: Mike White @ Summit church of Christ
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